Wednesday, August 26, 2009

The dryer is tumbling and the washing machine is spinning. John Martin is fast asleep in his crib and Paige is playing 'baby dolls' in the playroom. Today was going to be my first morning at CBS. Unfortuantely, the little man came down with a bellyache yesterday, one that required 12 diapers and 5 wardrobe changes all in a matter of a few short hours. A bellyache that I feel quite certain no mother would appreciate him bringing with him to the nursery to pass on to their child. Be sure to wash your hands after you read this... I don't want any of y'all to catch it either. The good news is he seems to be feeling much better today than he did yesterday! Praise the Lord!

I thought I'd show you our favorite books these days. These are the ones we 'go to' regularly... ones that are sure to please, sure to entertain {both reader and listeners}, and sure to teach life lessons that impact little minds and hearts.

First, we'll start with a NEW book, one that came highly recommended to us, The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name by Sally Lloyd-Jones. Sally is a British-American and a member of Redeemer Presbyterian Chuch {Tim Keller's church} in Manhattan and the author of another favorite, Little One, We Knew You'd Come. I can't say enough wonderful things about this book and it's illustrations {by Jago}. The way Sally tells each account from the Bible is so easy for little ears and hearts to understand, yet, lacks no detail. And just as it's title suggests, every story "whispers His name". As she goes through the accounts of the Old Testament she intertwines the New Covenant and what and Who is to come. It's good people! So good. It can be found in the First Pres bookstore, if you're interested!

And the illustrations are so wonderful...

As are the words that accompany them...

The next two books on our favorites list are not books with Biblical messages, however, they are wonderful old books that embrace the traditional role of family.

This copy belonged to Justin as a child, it clearly has been read a few times and will continue to be read until it can no longer be read. The girls absolutely love Lowly Worm, he's always hiding in the most unpredictable places, who knew a worm could be so entertaining?

Here are a few glimpses behind the cover...

If you're in the market for new or old books, you can't go wrong with any of these! What are your favorites?

80 comments:

I love the books! I've already started collecting children's books. I've only been married two months, and we aren't in the market YET for kiddos.

Thanks for your site, Darby! It's great. I made a Roman shade for our bathroom--the edges aren't quite as straight as yours, but it still looks great. At first, I made the folds upside down and couldn't figure out why they were drooping when yours were so nice and flat. I went back to the post and looked closer--ohhhhh. I tell you, the seam ripper is my most used sewing tool. :)

We had a lot of Richard Scarry books when I was growing up. I remember my favorite one was called "The Best Rainy Day Book Ever." It was filled with pages and pages of fun activities and I adored that book. I have never been able to find it again. Every once in a while I'll check on Etsy or eBay or a number of other places to find vintage books, to no avail. Thanks for your post and for bringing back some very nice childhood memories. : )

We love books too. After going out to dinner the other night, we stopped at a used bookstore and stocked up on some Golden books. When I was home this summer, my parents sent us home with the entire Disney collection my sisters and I read as children and a complete set of Value Tales. Books just make everything better! (We love Richard Scary too!)

First, love love love your blog! Your blog and your sister's blog have been two of my favorite internet finds! I find such inspiration for home life, raising family, decorating, photography, etc from a peak into your lives...so thanks!

Second, I LOVE the Jesus Storybook Bible! Our Church gives these to all babies at their baptisms and it is truly a magnificent representation of the stories of the Bible for children! They have recently used it during the Children's moment on Sunday mornings and I am always captivated by the beautiful way she depicts the stories of our faith. Glad to hear others like it as well!

Yep, the Bible Story Book is awesome. I read it to my granddaughter. Are you familiar with any of Graeme Base' books? We have them around from when our daughters were growing up. There maybe used ones floating out there. Google him, or Amazon.com may have them. Animalia is awesome! The Eleventh Hour is a mystery for when your kids are a little older. When our oldest was about nine, she spent several months going through all the clues to solve it!

We also LOVE the Jesus Storybook Bible...the stories truly do whisper his name! Great for everyone's hearts and minds!

Since our oldest started reading this summer, we are enjoying old school readers (think Dick and Jane). The illustrations are too cute, and the families are sweet. Makes me want to wear a pretty dress and apron everyday (but I don't). Thankfully, my mom has been collecting old children's books for years. Our oldest and I have caught the same love bug for them.

I started giving state alphabet books to people at baby showers. We have Alabama and Georgia since that's where my husband and I are from. Alabama is called Y is for Yellowhammer and Georgia is P is for Peach. I love books and hope to pass that on to Leighton and baby 2!

THANK YOU for the kid's bible recommendation. My little one is just getting to the point that he'll sit still long enough to read something longer than a board book so I was about to begin the hunt for his first bible.

I'm excited to try your Bible Story recommendation, I have tried several and am not thrilled with the way they tell the stories. I am always looking for the perfect one, maybe this will be it ;) Love your blog!!!

Oh, such good memories! My sister and I LOVED that last book when we were children. I would recommend "The Princess and the Kiss"--it's a great book for little girls! I bought it for my niece when she was a flower girl in my wedding.

Ahhh, the Jesus Storybook Bible. We love it. Vale walks around our house saying "Jesus, Jesus?" when she wants to look at the pictures. Though she doesn't really care about reading it yet, I have used it as a devotion on more than one occasion. I cry about half the time I read it. Glad you guys like it, too.

Hope the little one is feeling better. We had the belly crude a few weeks ago, and it's not fun!

When my son was two, he used to drag the Richard Scarry Best Storybook Ever (old copy of which I found at a thrift store) all over the house, and he called it his "encyclopedia." The cover eventually fell off and I finally threw the dog-eared thing away. But whenever I see that book, I think of the "encyclopedia."

I have been reading "Babar" to my little one the last week at bedtime (every night, of course). It has some dark parts (Mama killed by a hunter; the king dies from eating a bad mushroom) but is fun to read. Also, she loves to read the "No, David!" books to me; they are great ones for little kids because they know what the words say just from the pictures.

The Jesus Storybook Bible is a MUST HAVE!!! I absolutely adore this book and my kids love it too. The way Sally wrote each story to show how it connects to Jesus is the best. And the illustrations are wonderful too. So glad to see you like it too.

I remember "What Do People Do All Day" from when I was a kid. I'm gonna have to go to my parent's house now and hunt it down!Caleb's favorite book right now is "Noah's Crew Came 2 By 2" by Mindy MacDonald. It has little plastic animals on each page. He gets it out of his basket every morning. And I have the whole thing memorized now!

These books look wonderful! I'm going to attempt to find them and buy them for my niece and nephew. I love the message of that last book, too - teaching children about working hard and appreciating their parents. I remember so much about the books my mom used to read me when I was a child (even one story about how hard life would be if you married an unbeliever), and it's made me realize just how important it is to plant seeds at a very young age!

I thought about you a lot this past weekend...and felt guilty that I was "off" and you weren't. You at least made it LOOK like yall had fun all alone by yourself on your own. If it helps, Jer will be gone from Thurs to Sun this weekend.

Be sure and ask Justin about: "They have no idea what I could do to them." BaaaHaaaHaaaa

And finally, my favorite books lately are Charlie and Lola. I don't really know why, they just do it for me and the girls. Maybe its because I know the characters are British and I REALLY get into giving them some accents :)

My favorite when I was little was Uncle Wiggly and the Little Tales. It didn't have pictures but it was a book that my Grandmother used to read to my dad when he was little. When I got married she gave it to me.

Oh, the JSBB is my FAVORITE! I found that in a bookstore just after my daughter was born and I swear no book has ever opened the bible to ME as it did. I started really thinking about a lot of the story's differently! And Scary....oh yes I do remember. You remind me to be on the lookout for more of these 'old school' collections in thrift stores! Prayers for JM!!

I think we had that book growing up...the All around the house one. I'll have to get my mom to dig it up for me. One book that we love is Pinkalicious. MM got it from a sweet friend for her b'day. It is so cute! We also love This Little Light of Mine. It's a book about God's light and how we are all given that light before we are born. It's wonderful!!!

love, love, love richard scarry!! i grew up on them and now so are my kids. lucky for me my parents have kept the originals at their house for when the grandkids are there and then purchased new copies for the grandkids to keep at home. and thank you for the storybook bible suggestion. hopefully it will be in our church library tonight. as for my favorites.... well here's a whole list:

What about Patsy Scarry's Big Bedtime Book - I just love Little Richard and all of his adventures. My 3 year old's favorites are any of the Ella books (Ella Takes the Cake, Ella Sets Sail, Ella the Elegant Elephant etc). The Jesus Storybook Bible is a must have. We also ADORE the 4 vol. set of Read Aloud Bible Stories by Ella Lindvall. Great art in those too!

I got my daughter that Boble for Christmas (yes, it's a little early to buy Christmas gifts, but we have to make the budget stretch). I am having such a hard time keeping it in my closet until December. I have been reading it and love it! I can't wait for her to see it.

I love all books! But the two favorites from my childhood are 'The Little Old Man Who Could Not Read' and "The Monster at the End of this Book", which is a Golden Book, featuring Grover from Sesame Street. I still have both.

this is why i know we would be friends if i lived in dothan. we LOVE the jesus storybook bible--got it as a christmas gift from a sweet friend. and richard scarry--come on! those books are the best! i just saw the work one and wanted to get it. elle and i have been reading richard scarry's the funniest story book ever. glad jm is feeling better.

The Jesus Storybook Bible is also part of our collection. I think it will be especially good in the preschool years (as you know, toddlers don't last very long in books). We read a lot of Curious George!

love, love, love the Jesus Storybook. its wonderful :O)one of our favorites. the little critter books are our favorite for my soon to be kindergartner. and my 2nd grader, oh my gosh, that feels so strange to type, 2nd grader, anyhow, we are into a series of books called the tiara club. their fun to read for her :O)

I have ALL of these books and they are regulars for us, too! Another favorite of ours is called Mog's Christmas by Judith Kerr. It was a Gran find (my mom) and all of my girls have curl up to listen to it read to them. Simple, great illustrations ... you'd love it! I have actually been meaning to tell you about it. I don't even know you, but I think of you when I read it (a little scary, I know:)! sorry!!)

Oh and speaking of not knowing you ... I think we have a mutual friend ... Joy Bemis. Her husband worked for my husband at Fort Bragg.

Anyway, look for the Mog book ... you'll be glad you did (oh, Mog is a cat!).Mary Katharine

I stumbled across your blog some time ago. I have fallen in love with it! This is my first post but the Richard Scarry books are awesome! I am 23 and I remember watching a The Busy World of Richard Scarry on Nickelodeon years ago. I LOVED that show! If it was still on I would be recording it on my DVR every day! Again, I love your blog! I get new inspiration everyday! It makes me want to learn how to sew and start cooking more often! :-)

Thank you so much for the peek into your life! If you want you can take a look into mine! It isn't as exciting though!

I love following your blog! I just thought I should let you know that I was in a thrift store and contemplated buying children's books...and I don't even have any kids yet! Thanks for the inspiration! Also, I am going to follow your tutorial and make my own Roman shade!

I love children's books! I remember reading "What Do People Do All Day?" when I was little, such a good one. My favorite children's book these days is "A Porcupine Named Fluffy." It is a very cute and funny story. I can't wait for my little one to get old enough to love it too someday! I just love you blog by the way, I discovered it yesterday and it is my new fav blog to look at! You and your family are just adorable and I want to copy so many of your ideas and decorative things in your house. All day long I have been trying to think of a place in my house that I could put a huge bulletin board up like yours. I just think your fabulous!

Since I read to children at least once a week...I have lots of favorites...but I won't name them all.:) But a few all time favorites include "I Wish I Were a Butterfly" by James Howe, "Frederick's Fables" by Leo Lionni and I have a book I got on my 5th birthday..."Little Brown Bear and His Friends by Elizabeth Upham. But seeing the pages from Richard Scarry's books reminded me how fun they were!

We have been reading Henkes books.( I think that's correct spelling) he has a series about a little mouse named lilly. The book we love the BEST is called Chrysanthemum. It's about a little mouse named chrysanthemum who loves her name but gets made fun of. We have been checking these out at the library and renewing them because we love them so much.

Forgive me if this is repetitive, but I don't have the patience to read through all the comments. However, I did read recently that the Jesus Storybook Bible is coming out with a deluxe edition that includes 3 cd's. I found a place where you can download samples of the cd's here:

I am such a sucker for children's books. As a mom, grandma, and preschool teacher I just can't get enough. Our family has always been a fan of Lowly the Worm. He is a very talented and kind little fellow.

Richard Scarry was one of our favorites growing up. There is something about the multitude of pictures and seeing cute little animals doing ordinary human things that will draw a kid in. The array of little pictures keeps them busy.My 7 year old loves all of the Lynne Cheney "America" series. Same premise with the detailed pictures but great history and content. Patriotism at its greatest.

What great books and I love how worn they are. I need to read much more to my children so they can love to read like I do. I'm sorry to hear about your baby's tummy and I'm glad he's feeling better. A friend of mine does CBS and I do BSF. They are both great.

That we own:A is for Annabelle by T. TudorCurious GeorgeBeatrix Potter (I especially love Jemima Puddle Duck)Do you know what I'll do (by Charlotte Zolotow illust by Garth Williams - you must read the old one. One of the rare books with a big sister/little brother combo)

From the library:Cynthia Rylant's books (esp Mr. Putter's series; When I was young in the mountains; The Old Lady who named things)Lois Lenski's Mr. Small seriesDon Freeman (Fly High, Fly Low; Norman the Doorman, etc.)

And as a first read aloud chapter book, Winnie the Pooh by A.A, Milne illus by E Shephard. It is so warm and funny!

This post really makes me wish I kept my books from childhood! Your Little Golden Book post inspired me to get a few books for an expecting friend. I had to get her my fav "There's a monster at the end of this book"

We love the Storybook Bible! My three-year-old little chickie (now four), loved it so much that it only took a couple of months of reading it nightly to get through the whole thing. So much fun to see it on your blog!At our house we love Robert Munsch books. He wrote 'Love You Forever,' but all of his other books are very silly with lots of repetition where the kids can help you 'read.'Thanks for all of your wonderful posts...I always look forward to seeing what your sweet family is up to!

Wow, this is incredible. Just recently I have been wondering how to weave in Jesus stories into our night time bed time routine. I feel like I should have been talking to her about Jesus already, but just have not known how. Tonight as I put her to be I told her to say night-night to Jesus and as I walked down the stairs, thought to myself that I MUST get a childrens bible to read to her as she is a real bookworm at only 1.5 years. THANK YOU! I will be searching for the Bible very soon.P.S. Love your blog

Hi Darby - I think I'm a first time commenter. I know this seems like a strange post to comment on for the first time, but I just love Richard Scarry books too. They bring back so many wonderful childhood memories. Lowly the Worm was (and I guess still is) my favorite and now my kids love him too! Wow, I could sit for hours as a kids looking at all the stuff in those books!

I love the Bibles you talked about too. A great way for kids to memorize verses is by song. We have a book with song CD called "The Memory Bible" by Stephen Elkins (and narrated by Kirk Cameron -- yes, the one from Growning Pains). It's amazing how quickly they pick up on verses and stories by singing. We also love Steve Green's Bible Verse CD's series.

Books are my weakness! I love to read and I love to read to my kids. I still have lots of the books from my childhood. Some of those favorites are Richard Scarry's Nursery Rhymes (not sure if that is the title, but that is what it is) and the Dr. Seuss collection (who else writes about the vug under the rug and the nureau in the bureau!) My husband's family read Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman. He loves it, but it seems kind of crazy to me! I guess it has alot to do with the association to your childhood.

New books:Charlie and LolaHow I Became a Pirate by David ShannonAmerica by Lynne CheneySnowmen at Night (look for the hidden pictures)My Monster Momma Loves Me So (also has hidden pics)

hey darby. just wanted to let you know that i linked you and your sister's blogs in the little blurb mention on my blog. i meant to do it earlier and ran out of time. but i ALSO wanted to tell you that fiona LOVES this book too and is a HUGE lowly worm fan as well. in fact there is an actual lowly worm ride at one of the malls by our house. we happened upon it one day by complete accident. will post pics of her party and i also snagged one of your flickr images of your pom poms as well for reference.

My kids LOVE Richard Scary books too. I never remembered them as a kid but my mom bought them for my boys and it always held there attention forever. I will say I am most in love with the Grame Base books. His artwork is amazing in them. There are hidden animals in each picture you have to find. Definately worth adding to your library, young or old!

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About us...

I am a big sinner with a bigger Savior. I am a wife and a mother of 3 small children. I love to sew, craft, play house, and blog. I'm glad you're here... I hope you find something that inspires you!

This is my best attempt to capture the big and the small in our daily lives. Over the last few years the Lord has shown me the many rewards of transparency. What better way to be transparent than to share my life with others! It is my prayer that my "conversations will be full of grace and seasoned with salt" Colossians 4:6

I will also remind you this a BLOG, this is NOT real life. We don't sit around craft, bake and smile for pictures all day long. We do strive to glorify God and recognize our deep need of a Savior. What comfort we find in knowing that our debts have been paid and we have been set free.